Delhi Police’s new photo move makes hotel owners unhappy

The Delhi Police's move to make it mandatory for hotel owners to click photographs of all their guests has not gone down well in the sector, reports Faizan Haider.

The Delhi Police's move to make it mandatory for hotel owners to click photographs of all their guests has not gone down well in the sector.

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Hotel owners fear loss in business. They say no one would like the female members of their family to be photographed.

The police argue the move is necessary as criminals could easily avoid detection by CCTV cameras and use forged identity proofs while booking hotel rooms.

"We are concerned about the security and for that we have installed CCTV cameras and made identity cards mandatory for every customer. I don't think at any other place, the hotel owners need to click photographs of their customers. The hospitality industry is already in loss and such a move will add to it," said Arun Gupta, president of Hotel Mahasangh.

There are nearly 1,600 budget hotels and nearly 50 five-star hotels in the capital. "No customer would like to allow us to click pictures of his family members. This will discourage customers. If the government is serious in implementing its plan, they must issue a circular making it mandatory for customers to carry his/her photo to give it to the hotel management," Gupta added.

The police, on the other hand, feel that criminals and other anti-social elements were more likely to stay in a budget hotel. Hence, it was important to follow guidelines. "The date to implement the plan has not been decided yet and we are currently discussing it,” an officer added.